Serenity now

[Orrex]

Okay, I've watched the first half, and it's pretty cool so far, but I have a few questions.

I never saw even 10 seconds of the tv series. Where does the film fit in, continuity-wise?

Is it necessary to see the tv series before the film makes sense? (I'm thinking "no")

Why is the film called Serenity and not Firefly?

Approximately when does the whole series take place, relative to our century?

Are the film's characters played by the same people from the tv show?

Does the film "look" like the tv series (cinematography, effects, etc.)?

What's up with the Doctor guy? That is, why is he so clean that another character was driven to comment on it?

Anyway, it's pretty nifty stuff, IMO.

[JHB]

1. Greater sages than I will reply, but...

>Okay, I've watched the first half, and it's pretty cool so far, but I have a few questions.
>
>I never saw even 10 seconds of the tv series.

No sweat. I only saw half an episode before seeing the movie, plus a few bits here and there from cultural osmosis.

>Where does the film fit in, continuity-wise?

After the series

>Is it necessary to see the tv series before the film makes sense? (I'm thinking "no")

No, but seeing the series first helps orient you a bit more.

>Why is the film called Serenity and not Firefly?

Sidestepping the possibility of legal issues, Serenity is the name of the ship. "Firefly" doesn't have the same name recognition as, say, "Star Trek", so they weren't as tied to it for the name of the movie.

>Approximately when does the whole series take place, relative to our century?

(I think) about 500 years in the (bumpy) future.

>Are the film's characters played by the same people from the tv show?

I believe so.

>Does the film "look" like the tv series (cinematography, effects, etc.)?

Similar, but the movie had more money, obviously.

>What's up with the Doctor guy? That is, why is he so clean that another
>character was driven to comment on it?

Pretty much what you saw in the begining: He'd have been a fine, rich, upstanding (and well-scrubbed) doctor, but sacrificed it all to bust his sister out of that programming facility and keep her out of sight on the fringes.

>Anyway, it's pretty nifty stuff, IMO.

Very,

[politicat]

2. To elaborate on the above poster's answers:

The film takes place about 8 months to a year after the events of the series. At the end of the series, the crew was in a better emotional space - the economic realities weren't quite so desperate as they are now.

No, you don't need to see the series to make sense of the movie, but you might find it interesting to do so at some later point. Netflix has them available.

It's called Serenity because Fox owned the rights to the Firefly name, and has been less than helpful after they made the mistake of canceling the show. So Universal had to call it something else.

The cast is the same, though thinner. The sets are very similar, and the look is about right - a lot of the effects were very innovative, like hand-held effects in CGI.

The Doctor is part of the inner worlds, though on the lam, and it marks him as not belonging to the outer planets, where access to indoor plumbing might be more limited. And it's part of Kaylee worrying about him - if you hadn't guessed, she's got a crush the size of Montana on him.

[Walt Starr]

3. I've watched it three times already

I highly recommend 32" LCD wide screen HDTV for this one.

:evilgrin: